Heart Of A Soldier
by Mackenzie101
Summary: Darien is an Army soldier who has just come home to learn that the love of his life no longer loves him. Andrew thinks he can help him out, but only with the help of his sister, Serena.
1. Homecoming

Hey my fans and readers! So this is the second new story I've started in the past month and, rest assured, will be updated along with my others. This story is going to be associated with the military, so if you are anti-military or don't like the military, then just don't read it but even if you are anti-military and you decide to read it, you might actually like the story itself and still not like the military and I'm perfectly okay with that. Anyway, I have a fascination with the military since well... enough with my rumblings and on with the story!

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The clouds swept by fast as the plane descended on to the runway. Some of the soldiers, still dressed in their desert camo uniforms moved to the windows and woke their friends who had fallen asleep to come look out the windows. Some of them silently praised God that they came back to see the green lands of America alive and in one piece, unlike some of their friends who some of them either heard they died, or were right beside them when they were killed. The only one that wasn't gawking out the windows and cheering and celebrating was a lone soldier.

"Shields, what's wrong? We're back in the good old U S of A! Aren't you happy?" A blond man by the name of Cardigan asked another soldier, who's hair was that of a midnight sky without the stars. Darien smiled and shook his head. "Yeah, Andrew, I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all. No need to worry about me." He said as he looked down at the square piece of paper he held in his hand. Andrew sat down next to him and looked over his shoulder. "Girl back home, huh?" He asked as he looked at the picture. At that, Darien smiled. "Yeah. Raye Highlander, my fiancé." He said, his smile getting bigger. "We're getting married as soon as possible." He said as Andrew smiled at him. "Wow. That's nice. I wish I had someone to come home to." Andrew looked slightly sad now as he walked off. Darien watched him walk off and sighed.

It was true, Darien had fallen in love with Raye the first night he met her. Although their meeting wasn't one he had hoped for when he dreamed of meeting his potential wife, but he somehow still knew she was the one aside from her being drunk and throwing up all over him. He was jolted out of his trip down memory lane when the plane's wheels started to hit the ground. He felt the force of the plane's brakes when the finally stopped. He was actually one of the first ones to get up when they were given permission to get out of the plane. He quickly grabbed his bag and headed for the area where lots of people were cheering and clapping as the soldiers walked through the airport. Darien walked past everyone who had found their families and friends.

He saw some mothers hugging their sons and daughters tightly as the tears started to stream down their faces. He saw some of his other soldier friends hugging their brothers and already messing with each other, but he could still see the love in it. The next thing Darien saw, really got to him. Some of the soldiers finding their girlfriends or wives. He saw one wife holding out their new son to a soldier. He was one of the toughest ones Darien knew, so he was surprised when he saw him start crying. Darien longed for a family of his own and a wife. He smiled to himself as he thought 'I'll have that sooner than I think.' He smiled bigger at the thought as he continued to search for Raye.

"Darien?" He heard a voice from behind him say. He turned around to see Raye behind him. Her face suddenly lit up and a smile dawned her features. "It is you!" She yelled as she launched herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. Darien closed his eyes and smiled as he held her there and hugged her back just as tightly and inhaled her scent. "I was a little worried you'd never come home since you got held over for two years." She said as she finally pulled back. Darien gave her his most dazzling smile. "I promised I would come home in one piece and not in a body bag and I came through, didn't I?" He asked as she started crying a little.

"Yeah..." She said as she sniffled and looked down. Darien put his hand underneath her chin and brought her eyes back up to meet his. He just smiled and leaned down for a kiss. Raye stiffened, but gave into his kiss and put her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss. After a few moments, Darien broke the kiss and smiled at her as he pushed a strand of hair back from her face. "So, what day are we going to get married now that I'm home, love?" He asked as she frowned slightly.

"Can we talk about this later? I want to hear about the things you did in Iraq for the past six years." She said as he took her hand in his and walked around in the airport with her. He gave her a funny look at that comment. 'Usually she wouldn't stop talking about our wedding day and now she doesn't want to? Oh well. It's probably just the shock of me being home finally.' He thought to himself as they walked to the parking garage.

Meanwhile in the greeting area where Darien had just left...

"Andy!!! You're finally home!!!" Andrew turned just in time to see another blond with meatball styled hair nearly tackle him over. He looked down to see her face buried in his chest. "Hey, Serena. Long time, no see. How have you been? Who's ass does big brother need to kick?" He asked as she looked up and laughed at him. "No one's for now. I've missed you so much." She said as she squeezed harder. Andrew tried wiggling out of Serena's death grip, but it didn't work. 'I fight insurgents and terrorists and can take them down easily if they try and hold me down, but with Serena, it's like fighting a sumo-wrestler!' He thought as he finally made her let go.

"I've missed you too Serena. I've missed you too. Come on, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving!" He said as she laughed when he put his arm around her shoulders. "So, how's Mom doing?" Andrew asked as Serena walked happily along. "Oh, she's doing well. She's missed you the most. She cried a lot while you were gone." She said as she turned and saw the saddened look on his face. "Not a whole lot I hope?" He asked as Serena shrugged her shoulders. "You're her only son, Andrew. You've been gone for 5 years with not so much as a letter or a phone call. We feared the worst for you everyday!" He sighed as he continued to look at her. "Did you miss me?" He asked as Serena smiled and nodded. "Did you cry?" He asked and was surprised when Serena shook her head no.

Andrew smiled wickedly at his sister and started tickling her under the arm she had around him. "I know you have Serena! Say it, say it!" He said as she started laughing and jerking away from him but he held her there. "Say it and I'll stop! Say it and I'll stop!" He said as he continued to tickle her. Serena was laughing uncontrollably now.

"O...Oh...Okay, okay! I did a lot too!" She said as he finally let her got. She smirked at him and took off running for the parking garage. "I'm gonna leave you here Andrew!" She said as he chased after her. "That's what you think!" He yelled as he chased after her. They always played games like that, even when they were little kids. Here he was, twenty three years old, an Army soldier, and still chasing after his twenty one year old sister like they were still five and seven years old. He smiled to himself as he finally caught her before she could open her car door. She screamed and laughed at the same time.

After an awkward car ride in silence, Darien and Raye arrived at Raye's house. It was a rather nice house for a twenty three year old. Darien looked up at it with admiration. 'It'll be both ours in a couple of days hopefully.' He thought with a smile on his face. He followed Raye into the house and shut the door behind him. Raye turned to face him when the door had closed. She sighed and had a saddened look on her face. Darien looked at her, concerned. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Are you not happy I'm home or something?" He asked her as he stepped closer to her. She stepped back. "Actually, Darien, there's something I've been meaning to tell you..." She trailed off as someone else's voice spoke up.

"Hey Raye, where do you keep the extra towels..." The voice of one of Darien's good friends, Jedite, trailed off as soon as he saw Darien. Jedite's lower half was wrapped in a towel while his hair was dripping as he stood on the steps of the stairs. Darien's face went from concerned to angry. He turned to Raye, his eyes were now no longer the semi-dark blue, but now they were almost blackened with rage.

"So that's how you thank me for devoting three years of my life to you? For giving you anything and everything I had, even when I needed it myself?" He asked as he advanced on her. "And then I go away for six years, defending our country, thinking of nothing but you, risking my own life so that yours could be safe, thinking about our wedding day? And for what? So you could go and cheat on me and let me know this way?" He said as he got closer to Raye, but she kept stepping back.

Jedite started to make his way downstairs, but when Darien gave him a death glare, he stopped at the end of the steps and stayed there. "Think about what you're doing to me, Raye. What you're doing to us." He said as she finally exploded. "Enough, Darien! I'm sick of the way you only think about me and never yourself! You do everything and anything I say without thinking about yourself and that was cute for a while but now I'm just plain sick of it! Plus, you're in something that I'm totally against and I never know if you're dead or alive! I can't wait around for you for forever! " She yelled at him. Darien stared her down, but she continued. "It's like you don't even have your own personal life Darien. It's just about you, me, and the Army and that's it! You never think about what you can do for yourself and I don't need someone who doesn't have a life and all they ever think about is me! It's over Darien. I'm sorry." She said as she walked past him and took Jedite's hand on the way upstairs.

Darien glared at his ex-friend and now, his ex-girlfriend and ex-love of his life. "By the way, Raye, I hope you know Jedite has been diagnosed with herpes before so I'm glad you let me know about you two now before I fucked you again!" He said as Jedite glared down at him and so did Raye. Darien marched out of the house with a very angry look on his face, but as soon as the door slammed behind him, he felt sadness overtake him as he started walking the five miles to town.

Meanwhile, at the Crown Diner, everyone was celebrating Andrew's return home, especially Ilene, Andrew's and Serena's mother. "Oh my sweet little boy! I'm so happy you're home now!" Ilene said as she hugged Andrew tightly, maybe even more so than Serena had. Andrew just rolled his eyes a little as he hugged her back. 'Sometimes both mom and Serena are both a little over dramatic...' He thought as he looked over at Serena talking and joking with her friends, Mina and Lita. He smiled. 'But I guess it's okay. They're family after all, and they're the only family I've got.' He thought as his mother finally let him go.

"Dear, aren't those clothes a little too hot right now?" His mother asked as he looked down, forgetting he was still wearing his camo. He shook his head. "No Mom. They're fine. I've gotten used to them by now." He said as he tried to walk off to go mingle with the other people in the diner he hadn't seen in a long time, but Ilene grabbed his arm so he couldn't leave. "Are you sure, dear? Because I brought some more comfortable nice clothes for you to change into if you want..." She trailed off, trying to make it sound enticing. Andrew laughed. "Mom, I already told you, I'm fine with what I have on!" He said, about to laugh again, but then he saw someone walk through the doors of the diner.

"Shields, what are you doing here?" Andrew walked up and asked him, a bit surprised. Darien looked at him with a bit of hatred, sadness, and hurt in his eyes. Andrew stared at him for a little bit and then instantly understood. "It's that Raye girl, isn't it?" He asked as Darien looked down and away from Andrew. "Broke up with you as soon as you got back, didn't she?" He asked as Darien simply nodded. Andrew put his arm around his friend. "Don't worry, buddy. Let's go get some celebratory drinks to celebrate our safe return home." He said as Darien simply nodded.

A while later, Darien sat at the bar part, drinking his beer quickly, almost chugging it. Andrew put a hand on his arm and made Darien set it down. "Hey, slow down there buddy! You don't want to drink yourself into a coma on accident, do you?" He asked jokingly and seriously. Darien glared at him. "It would be a nice reprieve from this." He said as he took another swig and set it down. Andrew looked at him, trying to figure out how to make Darien feel better. Darien had told Andrew the whole story and he really felt sorry for the guy. "Hey Darien, why don't we just find you a nice girl to have fun with tonight?" He said, trying to liven up his mood. Darien just put his arms on the bar and sank down into them. Andrew could only see his eyes now. Darien only shook his head and lifted it slightly.

"Cardigan, I don't want anymore slutty girls that will just take everything I give them as just a temporary blessing until they find someone better or has more cash, or isn't in the military..." He said as he sighed in depression. Andrew frowned a little bit, but it came right back as he noticed the answer to Darien's problem walking towards them. Andrew smiled at his sister as she came over. An idea popped into his head as he tapped Darien on the shoulder. "Now, I think I can get you just the girl you're looking for." Andrew said as Darien looked in the same direction that Andrew was. Darien blinked a couple of times before he started staring. 'She looks like an angel.' He thought, but then he shook his head. 'But then again, looks can be deceiving.' He continued his thought as she stopped in front of them.

Andrew smiled as he got up and pulled Darien up with him. "Shields, I want you to meet my little sister, Serena Cardigan." Serena smiled and extended her hand out to him. "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Shields." She said sweetly as Darien took her hand and shook it and stared blankly at her. 'She even has the voice of an angel...' Darien thought as he stared at her smiling face.

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I hope this was a good start to this story. Please review and tell me if you guys would want me to continue this! Thanks for reading!

Mackenzie


	2. Only a memory

So, after nearly a year of waiting, and lots of contemplating, and at the request of an Army wife (One of my readers/reviewers), I have taken the liberty to update this story quickly and stuff…..lol! So, on with the chapter!

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Darien stared at the blond for quite some time now. He studied her up and down, carefully studying her, like he would a building he knew was full of insurgents. He started at her feet first, which were clad in little black strappy sandals that had a slight heel to them, which still didn't add much to her five feet, five inches, compared to his six foot even. He continued up her unbelievably long and seemingly flawless legs, milky white to perfection. Her dark blue jean skirt finally came into view, which still covered what needed to be covered, but still gave Darien some ideas, or any man for that matter. Her shirt was a robin's egg blue with another little white shirt underneath, but it still showed off her…..cleavage. The next thing he noticed after her angelic face was her eyes, which stopped his on the spot.

Serena's sky blue eyes had Darien frozen to the spot, making a slight shiver go down his spine, something he hadn't felt before when meeting a girl for the first time. Usually he could keep his macho attitude and suave boldness around any and every girl he came into contact with, but with her, it was quite different. 'She looks innocent enough. But then again, so did Raye,' He thought with a grimace.

"Shields, aren't you even going to say anything back to her?" Andrew said, snapping him out of his thoughts. Darien shook his head and smiled. "Likewise, I'm sure." He said, making Serena giggle lightly, knowing full well what he had been doing only seconds earlier. Andrew rolled his eyes. 'Every time with every man, Serena, every time.' He thought silently to himself as he tried to get something going here, which is what he intended. "So, is Shields your first name, or what?" Serena asked with a little smile and her hands on her hips.

Darien smirked. "It's Darien, sorry." He said as her smile got a little bigger. "Darien, I like that name." She said, earning a smile herself from him. Andrew stood next to Darien as he watched them. 'It's a little awkward, but it's a start.' He thought as he finally slapped Darien on the back. "Well buddy, I think I'm going to leave you two alone for a while and go and have a long over due chat session with my mom, later!" He said as he walked off quickly. Darien stood there, left behind with Serena, a little dumbfounded. 'That little jack a…' He began to think but was interrupted by Serena speaking to him again.

"So, how did you meet my brother?" She asked him as he turned to look down at her. He smiled a little reassuring smile to himself. 'Well, at least there's something I can talk about.' He thought as he sat back down on his bar stool, gesturing for her to sit in the one Andrew was originally sitting in. "Well, I met him once before, when we were assigned the same tent, but I never really talked to him. The next time I met him was at the chow line. Finally, after about a year, we were both sent on the same mission….." Darien's mind replayed the picture for him as he told the story to Serena.

Gunfire and bombs could be heard going off from almost all of the floors of the stone building in Iraq. The air smelled of gunfire and the metallic stench of blood. And there Shields was, an Army Combat Infantry soldier just doing his job, crouched down on the third story stairs of the five floor building, waiting for any sign of an insurgent or otherwise. His team had already swept most of the neighborhood when they got the report of a possible Alqueda hideout in one of the buildings. Somehow during the search, one of his team members went missing. Cardigan they told him. He recognized the name, but had no face for it.

He continued upward toward a room, which had the door closed. Darien pressed his back to the wall and held his rifle for dear life against his chest. He heard some scuffling coming from inside, and some other noises as well. He finally heard something in English. "Let go of me! I swear, when my team gets here, you'll wish you had never messed with me. They'll fuck you up real good, just for me! If I had my…." The next thing Darien heard was a smack, most likely to the face, and something being yelled in one of their foreign languages, most likely cursing him back. He heard nothing after that. Darien let out a breath, making sure not to make any sudden noises as he prepared himself for what he was about to do next.

He moved away from the wall and directly in front of the door. He took a deep breath, held it in, and kicked the door wide open and moved quickly back against the wall again. His calculations were right, as bullets came flying out from the room, followed by a string of words he still couldn't understand. Darien hid against the wall and waited for the shots to be ceased. After a few moments, they stopped. He quickly pulled out a small mirror and moved it so maybe he could get a good idea of where to go. He saw the insurgent, having trouble reloading his semi-automatic, dropping the magazine a few times. Darien moved the mirror until he finally saw Cardigan, laying on the floor but propped up against some cabinets. He winced as he saw the bullet wound in his right shoulder.

He took in a deep breath and moved quickly into the small apartment behind a wall, just as the insurgent began to fire at will again. Darien had his back against the wall again and waited. He looked to his left side, and what he saw both saddened him and sickened him. It was a little boy, he looked like he was barely five years old. His clothes were tattered and he was covered in blood but it didn't look like it was his own. He also looked like he had been crying. Darien looked past the little kid and down the darkened hallway. He nearly gasped as he caught sight of what looked like both of the little boy's parents, both piled on top of each other, filled with multiple bullet wounds.

Darien closed his eyes and looked away. He heard the gunshots stop again. He looked to the little boy and whispered as he readied his own rifle. "I don't know if you understand me, but I'm going to get you out of here." The little boy nodded, understanding him. Darien waited again, not noticing the little boy standing up beside him. As soon as the shots started firing again, the little boy made a run for the door, past Darien and into the fire. "No! Stop!" Darien yelled as he looked on in horror as he watched the little boy's body fall to the ground, blood slowly seeping out onto the floor. Darien's mouth hung open. Many emotions slid through him. Anger, sadness, rage, other emotions he had never felt before.

He moved quickly out into the open, pointing his rifle square on the insurgent, shooting him dead on in the torso, blood splattering against the wall behind him. Darien moved quickly again, carefully putting Cardigan's good around his shoulders and picking him up. After getting back to the barracks, and getting Cardigan to the medical hold, Darien walked into the medical hold, searching for Cardigan. He finally saw the young man, dressed in only his desert pants and socks. His arm was now in a cast and the place where the bullet pieced and had been removed was now patched up, a little blood had still seeped through.

Cardigan sat up when he heard foot steps. He groaned a little at the pain. "Easy there, man. You took a bullet and a slap to the face not too long ago." Darien said as he sat down on the empty bed next to Andrew. Cardigan laughed. "It was nothing I couldn't handle. I get slapped around by girls all the time back home." He said and they both laughed. "And where's back home?" Darien asked as Andrew smiled. "B E A Utiful Los Angeles, California." He said as Darien's eyes grew wide. "Mine too." He said as Andrew laughed. "Well we have two things in common, we're both from Cali and we're both slaves to the government. What a wonderful world, huh?" He asked as Darien laughed. "I wouldn't call it slavery exactly but the first, I'll agree with." He said as Andrew smiled. "So what's your name, hero?" He asked as Darien pointed to the name on his jacket. Andrew laughed and shook his head.

"No, I mean your first name. This isn't basic buddy." He said as Darien smirked. "Darien." He said simply. "Andrew Cardigan. Pleasure to meet you." He said as they started talking about home and other things.

Darien smiled as he finished his story. "And we've been inseparable since." He said as he sipped his beer. Serena stared at him. "You're telling me, my brother was shot?" She asked, a little worried. Darien put down the beer. "Well, yeah. I sort of implied that in the story. You mean to tell me you don't care about what happened to the little boy?" He asked with seriousness. Serena looked down and sighed. "It's a sad loss and he didn't deserve to die, but things like that happen on a daily basis there, or so I've watched and read." She said as Darien shook his head. "You also know that the media doesn't tell or show you everything that goes on in this." He said as she shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But what about my brother? Is there any long term damage?" She asked with concerned eyes as he laughed. "Serena, it happened four years ago. He was treated by the best paramedics. He's fine." He said as she gave him a weird look.

"Why do you act so calm about someone else getting shot?" She asked as he sighed. "It's something I've had to learn to live with. It's my life now and if I can save someone from being killed, than I will. But if I can't…." He said as the image of the little boy came flooding back to his memory. He tried to shake off the horrible image as he stared at Serena. She nodded and put her hand on his that was now sitting next to his beer. "I understand." She said as she got up from the stool and smiled at him. "Well, it was nice hearing your story of yours and Andy's origin, but I have to go and catch up with my best friend, but I'll hopefully see you around. Okay?" She said as he smiled and nodded. "Okay." He said as she walked off.

A few seconds later, Andrew assumed his rightful place in his chair by Darien. "So, did you set up a date with her yet or what?" He asked, excitedly. Darien sighed. "Andrew, she's nice, she's really pretty, but I don't think I'm really ready to start dating just yet. I just got cheated and broken up with." He said as he took another swig of his beer. Andrew slapped him on the back again, almost making Darien choke. "Awww, come on Darien! Raye's obviously moved on, so why shouldn't you?" He asked as Darien sighed once more. "You just don't understand, Andrew, I put three years of my life into that relationship. I'm not ready for anything yet." He said, taking a careful swig of his beer and then stopped to speak. "Maybe not ever again." He said as Andrew watched his sister go over to another blond girl and start talking with her.

'I've got to find some way to get these two together. Besides, I owe Darien big for saving my ass that one time from that insurgent.' He thought as he went back to drinking with his friend.

"Who was that, Serena?" Her blond friend, Mina asked as Serena sat down at their table. Serena sighed. "Oh, just Andrew's new best friend, Darien." She said as Mina leaned in closer to her and stared at the men not too far away from. "And his name is just as hot as he looks. Yowza…." Mina said as she stared, but Serena pulled her attention away by pinching her arm. "Ow, what was that for?!" Mina yelped as she glared at Serena. "It's not nice to stare." She said with a mocking smirk. Mina smirked back.

"He seemed to be a little interested in you Serena. You know, he probably hasn't had anybody in years." She said as Serena blushed, knowing what she was getting at. "Mina, no." She said, blushing a little more. "You know what they say Sere, be safe, sleep with a soldier!" She said as she laughed. Serena punched her in the arm lightly. "Okay, okay, I'll stop! But you better figure out if you want him or not, 'cas if you don't…." She said as she leaned in closer to Serena. "I might!" She as Serena turned to look at Darien again, who was busy downing a beer. 'You know, I just might try.' She thought to herself.

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I know it probably wasn't as near as long as a lot of you would like, but at least it's an update. There will be a lot more to come as soon as you guys review!

Mackenzie


	3. Battle Buddy

Alright, so after months and months of waiting and attempting to write this damn thing, I have finally succeeded! Whoo! Joy and happiness all around! Anyway, enjoy!

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It was well after 2 a.m. when people started to leave the Crown Diner. While going out the door Andrew and his mother stood next to the exit as everyone who passed them either hugged Andrew or gave him a high-five on the way out the door. Just as the last remaining people left, Andrew's mother closed the door and locked it behind them.

"You did a good job while I was away." Andrew suddenly spoke up behind her as she turned around. She looked at him with a confused look. "What was that, dear?" She asked as he shook his head. "With the place, Mom. With the business I left to you while I was gone. I know it's not something you wanted to do but…." She cut him off with her hand.

"It's alright sweetheart. You went off and left us, thinking it was the best thing for your country and I'm just so proud of you. You just can't imagine." She said with a genuine smile. Andrew smiled back, content with her reaction to him. He remembered when he told her he had joined the Army, both her and Serena balled like children for about two months and he hadn't even gone to basic or Iraq yet. He smiled even more at the memory.

Speaking of his baby sister…. "Is Serena still here, mom?" He asked as she shook her head. "No, she took off about an hour ago with Mina, but I'm sure she's probably home by now." She said as she looked down at her watch and then back up at him. "But I'm so happy that you're home, alive and well. You don't know how hard these past five years have been. I cried just about every night." She said as her eyes sank back to the ground. "I just can't believe my little boy is a man now." She said as she started crying into her hands. Andrew took one step forward and took her in his arms. "Don't worry, Mom, its okay. I'm not going anywhere, not for a while anyway." He said as she cried into his chest. "I just missed you so much. You don't know, you just don't know." She said as she cried harder

. 'Always a little overdramatic.' He thought to himself as he held her. He smiled once again as he hugged her closer. 'But she and Serena are the only family I've got.' He thought as he finally let go of her. She sniffled as she looked up at him again and then to the bar of the Diner.

"So, what are you going to do about him?" She asked as she pointed to Darien, who was already passed out on the counter, several empty bottles surrounding him. Andrew sighed. "Well, he told me when he was leaving for Iraq, he gave up his apartment and started living with his girlfriend at the time. He didn't know she would fuck…." His sentence was cut off when his mother shot him a dirty glare.

"Err…screw…him over." He forgot his mother hated it when him or Serena cursed. "He has no place to go right now. Do you think he could take the spare room until we find him another apartment here?" He asked her as she stared at him for a moment and then looked back up at him. "Sure, but I'm holding you responsible for him. He's in your care and I only expect two things." She said as he nodded and waited for her to continue.

"First, I don't want him drinking like that anymore, especially around Serena. He was pretty tame tonight, but we don't really know what he'd be capable of if he got super drunk and mad. And second, he has to at least contribute to some of the daily chores around the house for the duration of his stay." Andrew nodded. "He will, I promise." He said as he walked away from his mother and to his drunk and passed out friend.

He couldn't see Darien's face, but he knew he was asleep because he was lightly snoring. Andrew reached out and gently shook Darien's arm. "Hey, Shields, come on and get up, we're going home." Andrew said as Darien very slowly lifted his head up to look at him. He had bags under his eyes and his face was red in places from where he slept on his arms.

"O…Okays…."He said as he started to get up out of the stool, but before he almost completed the task, he fell forward. Andrew barely caught him before he hit the floor. "Woah there, buddy." He said as Darien lifted his head. "Hey….Cardizan….hehe….I'm….I'm drunk…" Darien said with a stupid wide smile on his face. His head fell forward again as Andrew rolled his eyes. "It's pretty obvious buddy. Let's get you outside." He said as he pulled Darien's arm over his shoulders and started walking towards the front of the Diner. Andrew's mother was waiting at the door for them, holding it open as Andrew walked to the car and put Darien in the back seat, buckling him in and closing the door. Andrew got in on the passenger side and his mother got in on the driver's side shortly after.

As they drove down the road, Andrew and his mother started talking quietly to each other. "He must have really loved that girl to get drunk like that." His mother said as they drove down the road. Andrew looked out the window at the passing buildings and street lights. "I wish I had someone I was that crazy about or was that crazy about me." Andrew said absentmindedly. His mother looked at him with a funny look. "To the point that you're a drunken fool when they hurt you?" Andrew shook his head. "No, not like that. I mean the love part. Unconditionally loving someone, despite their faults." He said with a sigh. She smiled. "You will one day, son. It'll happen when you least expect it." She said as Darien leaned forward in his seat and stared forward blankly.

"Fuck." He said simply. Andrew turned to look at him. "What is it Shields?" He asked as his mother had that annoyed tick to her face, but he ignored that fact for the moment.

"I need….I need to get laid…." He said as he fell back into his seat and passed out again. Andrew shook his head as he turned to see they were pulling into the garage. He also saw the pissed off look on his mother's face. "Mom, he's just…." Andrew started but his Mom shot him one of "those" looks and he immediately shut up. "I'm going to just assume that was his drunken mind talking and not how he really acts." She said as she got out of the car and shut the door. Andrew sighed.

"Really, what am I going to do about you, Shields?" He asked, not really expecting him to respond as he got out of the car to help his friend into the house. The next morning greeted Andrew with the sun in his eyes, coming from the window. He groaned as he turned over so that it wouldn't bother him anymore. 'So that's why Serena moved her room to my old one when I left. I'm gonna have to get her for that.' He thought as he sat up and threw on a t-shirt and pajama pants and walked out into the hallway and into the kitchen. He found his mother already making his breakfast at the stove while Serena was already at the table, eating a bowl of fruit loops and looking through a fashion magazine. Their mother turned around to greet him.

"Good morning sweetheart. I'm making your favorite!" She said cheerily. Andrew smiled and nodded as he sat down next to Serena. "That crap is gonna give you diabetes one day, you know that right?" Serena looked up at him over the magazine. "You know that the Army is gonna get you killed one day, right?" She said as Ilene turned around.

"Serena! That was a horrible thing to say to your brother! Apologize right this instant!" She yelled as Serena sank down in her seat. "Sorry, Mom." She said as she shot Andrew a dirty look and went back to her magazine. Andrew decided to egg her on further. "You know, that cereal is gonna go straight to your butt! It's already almost as wide as the opening of the door." Serena then put her magazine down and glared at Andrew. "Mom! Andy called me fat!" She said as she stood up and glared straight at him. Ilene turned around. "Will you two stop acting like you're still little kids! You're twenty three and twenty one. Act your ages!" She said as she turned back around. Serena sighed as Andrew laughed. She mouthed the words "you suck" to Andrew, so Ilene wouldn't hear it. Andrew smirked.

He always thought it was so ironic how their mother wanted them to be innocent and yet they both knew they weren't. Serena wrapped her white robe around her tighter and picked her magazine up from the table and turned her nose up at Andrew. She started walking back towards her room when she crashed into something hard. She quickly looked up to see Darien, who was only in his boxers and dog tags. He looked down at her with a confused look while scratching the back of his head.

He still looked tired, but she noticed the deep ocean blue eyes. She gasped a little as she felt something inside just stop for a moment. She continued, unknowingly, to let her eyes travel down his body. His chest was very defined with muscle and his dog tags hanging in the middle of his chest. He had a six pack too, which Serena had to admit, she liked. Her eyes slipped downwards to the white boxers. They covered everything, but she could still make out the outline of his….

"Holy shi….crap…" She simply said as her eyes shot back up to his. Her face had turned a very light shade of pink now as she stared at him. Darien looked down at her with a raised eyebrow; having no idea she was just checking him out. "Uh…" She said as she looked to the ground and blushed harder as she brushed past him and quickly walked to her room and slammed the door behind her. Darien shook his head as he sat down at the table with Andrew. He looked up to see Andrew smirking at him. "What?" He asked as Andrew smiled. "I knew she'd like you." He said as Darien looked at Andrew, confused.

"Who?" He asked as Andrew shook his head. "My sister, Serena." He said as Darien just simply looked at him. "Oh." He said as he stared down at the table. Andrew gave him an annoyed look. "Darien! She was checking you out! She obviously wants to get to know you better!" He said as Ilene came over to the table with the pan to scrape Andrew's eggs onto his plate.

"Andrew, are you trying to pass your little sister on to this…." She said as she looked at the groggy Darien, who was rubbing his eyes. "Man." She said as she stared at Darien. Andrew held up his hands in defense. "I'm not trying to pass her off on anyone! I'm just trying to find her a good guy, unlike that last mother fucker she had." He said as Ilene sighed. "I'll forgive you this once for the curse because it is appropriate for the last one, but Andrew, don't try and hook her up with anyone right now." She said as Andrew started to argue again."But Mom…." He started but Darien spoke up.

"Mrs. Cardigan, you don't have to worry about me making any advances towards your daughter in the least. I'm not going to be dating or interested in girls for a while. A long while." He said as he put his head in his hands as they rested on the table. Ilene smiled. "That's good, Mr. Shields. I'm glad you see things my way, unlike some people in this house. How would you like your eggs?" She asked as Andrew pouted slightly in his chair.

"Over easy." Darien replied. Ilene walked back to the stove. "Oh and please wear a shirt and some sort of pants when you know Serena is here." She said as she began to cook his eggs. Andrew shook his head. 'I'm gonna have to get this done outside of the house if it's ever going to happen.' He thought to himself as he watched Serena walk back into the kitchen, fully dressed in blue jeans, and a short sleeved black shirt that clung to every curve on her upper body, carrying her books for her college classes. She walked over to a small table in the corner and unplugged her laptop and put it in it's carrying case and slung it over her shoulder as she turned around.

Now it was Darien's turn to check her out. He definitely noticed the shirt and the pants that had the same effect. Her hair was made up in the meatball style she had when he first met her. She didn't have any make-up on, aside from lip-gloss but she still looked attractive. Andrew noticed and smirked. 'And the plan is back in motion!' He thought as Serena walked over to Ilene and kissed her on the cheek. "Bye, Mom. See you later." She said as she walked over to Andrew and kissed him on the cheek. "Behave yourself. You know how the California girls here are about you." She said with a smirk. Andrew smirked back. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He said as he turned around to hug her.

After she was through with Andrew, she turned to Darien. "Yeah…uhm….have a nice day Darien." She said as she blushed as she walked away from the table quickly and out the door. Darien looked a little confused. "Have a nice day?" He asked himself as Andrew laughed. "You've already got the girl flustered, Shields, and you haven't even touched her yet. Damn, you're good!" He laughed as Ilene shot him a look. "Andrew…." She started. Andrew sank down in his seat. "Sorry Mom." He said, simply.

Serena walked up the path to her college. She sighed as she shook her head. 'I can't get distracted now. I've got too much riding on me without a boyfriend. And even if I wanted a boyfriend, it can't be Darien because he's Andrew's best friend and he's also a soldier just like…' Her thoughts trailed off as she shook the thought away.

"Hey Meatball head!" Serena suddenly heard from beside her as Mina ran up to walk next to her. Serena smiled. "Hey Mina. Did you study for the biology test today?" She asked as Mina laughed "Hell no! You know me, always make friends with the geeky guy in the class and get the answers from him and promise him a date during the semester but I never follow through!" She said as they both laughed. "So, are we still going to the club tonight?" She asked as Serena shook her head.

"Mina, you know I can't. I've got to focus on my studies." Mina rolled her eyes and grabbed Serena's free arm. "Oh come on, Serena. You haven't had a boyfriend since you were eighteen. You need to put yourself out there!" She said as Serena shook her head. "No, Mina, I don't. You know what happened with the last one." She said as Mina's face dropped.

"Yeah, that's true. Okay, okay, let's go not for the guys, but for ourselves! You gotta admit you haven't been out on the town in a while. You need to have fun while you still have your good looks and youth!" She said as Serena laughed and smiled. "Okay, I'll go, just this once, but no picking up guys, promise?" Mina nodded. "I promise!" She said as they entered the college.

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My writing may be a little rusty but I hope it was still a pretty good chapter for you guys!

Mackenzie


	4. Top Secret

Sooooo….anyway, I'm trying to MAKE time to update this story because believe me guys, I really want to! And I've got at least 3 new stories in the works so look forward to that. I know every author on here promises and promises to keep updating fast, fast, fast, but sometimes life just throws curveballs and sometimes they're unavoidable so bear with me here! Enjoy this next chapter!

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In the Cardigan living room, Darien sat on the couch, watching the news, basically catching up on all the stuff that was going on on the home front and seeing what rumors….errr….information the media was giving out about the war.

"Two more troops have died in Iraq today due to suicide bombers. Sources say…." The female reporter prattled on as various scenes of the incident played on the screen. Darien watched with grimace over his features. Suddenly, the t.v. shut off and the room went slightly dark. "Really Shields, do you need to needlessly re-live that crap while you're home?" Andrew said from behind him, remote in hand. Darien looked up at him.

"It's not that I want to re-live it Andrew, it's just that I still kind of worry about the rest of our friends that got left behind. We were lucky enough to be able to get on the plane this time without any real hassle. I mean, we could have been shot down just right after take off or during the flight or even before we stepped on the plane. Those two soldiers on t.v. that got killed could have been someone we knew." He said as Andrew sighed.

"Yeah, but it's the life we chose buddy. We need to remember that when we make friends with other soldiers, there's always the possibility of them being taken from us needlessly. That can happen here too. " He moved finally to sit down next to Darien on the couch with the t.v. still off. "I mean even if we hadn't become soldiers, we would still run the risk of being killed here. I could get run over by a car tomorrow on accident or I could choke on a chicken leg and die or something." He said the last part while laughing. Darien smiled a little.

"But I've pretty much settled with the fact that when it's our time to go, it's time to go. There's nothing you or I can do to stop it. Life goes on and no matter what you do with it, time goes on as well and when the grim reaper comes for me, I'll know it's for a good reason and my time here is done."

Darien shook his head. "But in Iraq, it's not the grim reaper or God that's taking our lives, it's the enemy and I'm pretty damn sure that God has little to no control over our enemies and I don't think the grim reaper has disciples." Andrew laughed. "Well, I don't know what to tell you, Shields, but apparently God does have some sort of hand in this war because that day in Iraq, he sent you to save me when I could have been brutally murdered." Darien nodded. "Yeah, but to save your life, someone else was sacrificed, a child, Andrew." Darien commented as the image tried to force its way back into Darien's mind. He cringed and shook it off.

Andrew frowned. "True. But it was just his time to go I guess." Darien shook his head. "Maybe it was, but was it his whole family's turn too?" Andrew was getting a little annoyed now. "Okay, Shields, you're looking way too deep into this." Andrew snapped his fingers and perked up. "Hey! I've got an idea! Why don't we get out of the house tonight and away from the t.v. and away from anything that could remind you of Iraq!" Darien looked at him funny. "How?" He asked, sort of seeing where this was going.

"Let's go clubbing! You know, go dancing, maybe drink a little or a lot, pick up some ladies. You told me you needed to get laid when you were drunk last night, remember?" Darien looked at him funny again. "I did?" He said as Andrew nodded. "Yeah, you did. The drunk mind speaks the sober heart buddy and apparently your sober body is telling your drunk mind to tell your best friend 'Hey I need a piece'!" Darien shook his head.

"I don't think it's a good idea Andrew. I mean, I just got out of a long term relationship and about to be engagement. I just don't know if I-" Andrew cut him off by getting up and pulling him off the couch. "Come on! It's better to have loved and lost than live with the psycho for the rest of your life!" He said as he dragged Darien off to his room. Darien smirked. "That saying is off the shirt you told me about, isn't it?" Andrew laughed as they walked down the hall. "Yup, and I always stick true to that saying , buddy." He said as he closed the door to the room and began working on step one of his plan, unbeknownst to Darien.

Meanwhile at Mina's house, the girls were also getting ready…well….at least one of them.

Serena sat at Mina's vanity, looking at herself and watching Mina work on her hair, pulling it in all sorts of directions. "Why are we doing this again?" Serena said, indirectly accusing Mina of having some sort of plot. Mina rolled her eyes. "To make you look good when we go out tonight, that's why!" She said as she pinned a few clumps of hair on top of Serena's head. Serena tried to move, but Mina caught her by her head and made her stay in place.

Serena had a slightly frustrated look on her face. "I thought you promised me no picking up guys, Mina." Mina rolled her eyes once more. "You don't always have to get dressed up just to go pick up guys. Don't you just sometimes dress up just to feel pretty?" She asked as Serena shook her head, causing Mina to grab her again. "No, not really." She replied and Mina sighed. "I think something got lost in translation when you were conceived, Serena. All women love to get dressed up for no reason just to feel pretty!"

Serena sighed. "Yeah, but Mina, when….you know what, happened to me, everything just changed. The way I felt about myself, the way I wanted to live, the way I look at men, the way I feel about….you know…getting intimate. I just don't think it'll ever happen just out of true feelings of love, especially after what happened to me was definitely not out of love." Mina started brushing Serena's hair while her smile faded.

"Serena, you know what happened wasn't your fault. He was mentally disturbed, you couldn't have known. He raped you, you didn't die, you didn't get pregnant or an STD, and you never have to see him again. He was taken away for good and he's locked up somewhere where he can never get out. You're out here and he's stuck in there." She then bent down and hugged Serena. She responded by nodding and putting a hand where Mina had her arms wrapped around her. "Don't stop living, Serena. He took your virginity, not your life. And as for the next guy that actually gets serious with you, as far as they know, you still haven't had your first time yet." Serena sighed as she looked away from the mirror.

"Mina, I know you're one of the only ones that was there for me when I did get raped. You're the only one who knows who did it. I couldn't even tell mom. I told Andrew but I didn't tell him who did it. I told the police yes, but even though I got him put away, it still doesn't change the fact I'll always not be able to trust men again fully and that I have to live with the fact that my first time was violently taken from me." Serena said fighting back the tears threatening to fall.

Mina hugged her tighter. "I know it'll never be enough to say it's alright and that your family and I love you and that some day you'll find someone who will accept you for who you are and what has happened to you, but I'll keep encouraging you as much as I can." Serena then turned around and hugged Mina back.

"That's why you're my best friend. You'll always be there for me, no matter what." Mina pulled back and smiled. "Now let's get all prettied up and let's hit the club!" She said as Serena turned back around and let Mina continue her work.

Almost one and a half hours later, Serena and Mina stepped out of Mina's room, completely transformed. Mina came out in an orange skirt that was very short but didn't reveal anything she didn't want anyone to see. She was also wearing a white spaghetti strap top that clung to all the right places. Her hair was pulled up into a bun with some strands hanging down but it still made her look attractive. She also wore high healed shoes with straps the same color as her skirt. Serena wore the same thing as Mina, only her skirt was black and her shoes were the same style as Mina's, only black. Her hair was also in the same style as Mina's.

Serena looked at Mina and then looked down at herself. "So….why do I look like your twin?" Serena asked as Mina laughed and grabbed her hand as she led her to her car. "Serena, people go crazy over twins! We'll be the most looked at girls in the club!" Mina was suddenly jerked back by Serena suddenly stopping. "I thought you said….." Serena started but Mina interjected. "Serena, I know I told you we weren't going to pick up guys but if the event just so happens to occur, you can always say no, or say you're a lesbian or taken." She said as she started laughing. Serena shook her head. 'Well, I guess she didn't entirely lie to me.' She thought as she opened the passenger door to Mina's car and got in.

A few moments later, Mina and Serena arrived at the club, parked next to the sidewalk, and walked a little ways to the door of the club. The doorman checked their ID's at the door and gladly ushered them in. The club was just starting to get crowded and the music was booming with the bass. The lights moved in tune with the music and the people did the same.

As Mina had said earlier everyone just loves twins and within minutes, both guys and girls came over to talk to them, just due to their appearance. Mina, of course, was outgoing when she talked to both guys and girls, and giggled when men flirted with her. Serena basically smiled and looked pretty and acted like Mina's twin for Mina. Mina even got a few numbers and a few dances in as the night wore on. Serena was offered a few dances and some numbers but she promptly said no or saying she was taken. Mina shook her head when she saw Serena doing this. 'When is she ever going to get over her fear of men? She's beautiful and shouldn't try and hide it. I wish she could find someone to just let go with.' She thought as she continued talking to a really cute brunette guy.

Meanwhile at the front entrance, Andrew and Darien just walked in, barely making it past the point where they started cutting off the number of people able to come. The club was packed now, but the music , the lights, and the people weren't changing much. Andrew smiled as he looked over his picks of the ladies. He wore a simple button down dark blue shirt and blue jeans. His hair was in his usual messy but still looking good style. Darien wore a plain black shirt that showed off his muscles in all the right places and blue jeans as well. As soon as they got in, Andrew ran off to apparently go track down a girl he had seen across the room.

Darien shook his head as he watched his battle buddy run off. He smiled to himself as he walked towards the bar. He could take almost any woman in the club he wanted and he knew it. He just knew though that if he did manage to sleep with a woman or even manage to get a little something else out of her, he'd hate himself in the morning. 'I know it might be impossible for me to find now, but I really want someone who wants to be in a faithful, committed relationship with me. I'm over that whole "there's only one thing that I want" phase. I got over that after I got into the military. I guess I'm just a hopeless case.' He thought as he ordered a beer. He finally sat down at the bar so he could enjoy a beer for the first time in years, in a lifetime, it seemed.

As he took a sip he happened to look a little ways down across the bar to see someone he sort of recognized. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and she was wearing a really tight fitting spaghetti strapped top with a really short little black skirt. She was giving the current guy that was talking to her an obviously fake smile while holding her own drink and slightly pushing away a guy that was obviously a little tipsy away from her, but he kept persisting. 'That's Andrew's little sister, I think.' He thought to himself as he took another sip and walked over towards them.

"Come on baby, just one dance. It'll mean nothin' I promise." The man kept begging and leaning into Serena closer as she tried to deter him somehow. "I already said no twice. I don't want to!" She said as he grabbed her hand and jerked her to him, making her drop her drink. Serena gasped as it crashed to the floor. 'Oh God, where's Mina when I need her?!' She thought desperately as the man began tugging on her. It took a little bit for the man to notice he made her drop her drink. He looked down and then looked back up at her. "I'm….I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He said as Serena tried to pry herself away.

"You better be sorry because you've got your hand on my girlfriend." Someone said from behind him. The man finally let go of Serena and turned around to look at whoever said that to him. "And just who the fuck…." He trailed off as he sized himself up against Darien's towering height compared to his. "Oh…" The man said as he stared at Darien. Darien smirked. "I'm her boyfriend…." He said as he came over next to Serena and put his arm around her shoulders and made her come closer to him. "That's who the fuck I am." He said as he looked down at Serena. Serena gave him a weird, but sort of relieved look. "Sorry, sweetheart, I got held up at the base. You know how the military is, hurry up and wait." He said with a little smile at her. Serena got what he was attempting to do and smiled back. "Oh honey, it's alright. You know I'd wait for you for forever if I had to." She said as she looked back at the man, who had a defeated look on his face and turned around to go find someone else to hit on.

As soon as he was out of sight, Darien removed his arm from around Serena and stepped around to stand in front of her. Serena looked up at him and then smirked. "Thanks, but I could have handled that myself." She said as Darien smirked back. "You know, you're right, it looked like you really had it under control." He said as he pointed over to the bartender, who had come around the bar to clean up the drink and the glass Serena had dropped. Serena blushed. "Totally under control, really." He said as he laughed. Serena blushed deeper and acted like she was mad. "Well, he just startled me a little bit. Other than that, I was fine." She said as Darien laughed again and rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure." He said as Serena started fighting with him a little more.

Meanwhile, they had no idea they were being watched. Andrew sat in a corner with his beer, watching the whole event take place. 'If Darien hadn't gotten up and did what he did, I know I would pull the whole brother card and end up punching that guy in the face.' He thought as he took a swig. 'It looks like they're starting to actually talk now though.' He thought, not noticing someone coming up to stand beside him. "So, do you think he can crack Serena's defensive shell?" The girl next to him asked, who happened to be Mina. Andrew smiled. "As long as he doesn't move too fast, which I don't think he will, I think she'll be back in the dating scene yet, and with my battle buddy no less." He said with a smile. Mina sighed. "Oh well, I guess I'm gonna have to try and find another angle to use. There's goes my whole twins bit!" She said as she laughed. Andrew turned around to actually look at Mina. He stared at her for a few seconds before he finally spoke. "Would you like to dance?"

About an hour later, Serena and Darien had found a table alone together and he had replaced her drink, and even refilled it every time it went dry. Serena was laughing and so was Darien. "So you guys really did that to two camel spiders?" She asked as Darien laughed and took a swig of his new beer. "Yeah, but it was really funny….we didn't think so at the time….but it was really funny when they started fighting each other and then I guess they realized they could ruin our fun and run away so we tried to catch them but they're really fast little suckers, and they ran somewhere we weren't expecting them to." He paused for effect and Serena leaned over the table to him. "Where did they go?" She asked, really interested. Darien smiled and continued.

"They ran under the tent where our commander was taking a leak." He said as he started laughing. Serena started laughing too, sort of seeing where this story was heading. "So what happened?" She asked. "Well apparently they found their way to him and he fell out of the tent…..pants down and all, and ran out screaming. It was the funniest thing ever. Of course we got in trouble and got a long lecture about how we shouldn't even touch those things and how we shouldn't starve them and make them fight each other for our entertainment but it was really funny afterwards, even now." He said as they both burst out laughing. Serena finally stopped laughing after a few moments, took another sip of her eighth drink and stared at him for a little while. He finally stopped laughing as well and stared back at him.

'Maybe….he isn't anything like…..him…' She thought as she smiled at him. Darien was taken aback for a moment and then he smiled as well. 'Maybe Andrew was right. Maybe she does have a little thing for me and wants to get to know me.' He finally leaned in closer to her on the table and looked into her eyes. "Would you….wanna dance with me?" He asked her cautiously. Serena stared at him for a moment and then downed the rest of her drink and then looked at him again. "Okay." She said as she got up and he did as well.

They walked to the dance floor together with her hand in his. Serena felt a surprising tingle resonate from his hand to hers and rushed up her arm and it felt like it went into her chest. She sucked in a breath, as if the feeling had knocked the breath out of her body. Darien looked back at her and turned around to her on the dance floor and took both of her hands in his. "Hey, are you okay? You look a little…" His words trailed off to her as she looked down and blushed and slightly jerked her hands from out of his and then tried to regain her composure. "I'm good, I'm alright, just fine." She said he smiled at her again.

They began to move to the pounding dance remix of a song Serena always heard on the radio. Her body began to move to the rhythm of the song. Darien's body almost unintentionally followed hers along with the music. He was dancing behind her now but was still close enough he wasn't touching her, but she could still feel him there. During their dance, she looked over her shoulder at him and she was surprised when she looked. Usually when a guy danced behind her, he did it like he was already screwing her from behind, but not Darien. He moved in time with her and it still had a sexual tone, but not intentionally.

Serena suddenly felt a weird sensation take her over. She was pretty sure it was the vodka in her drink that was finally starting to take effect. Her vision blurred a little bit and the floor started moving without her. She finally fell back a little and was expecting to be on the floor but something caught her. She heard a voice next to her ear and it sort of gave her a calm feeling more so than the alcohol. "Do you want to get out of here?" He asked her simply. Serena just looked up at him and nodded. Darien looked around quickly and found a table and sat her down. He bent down in front of her and made her look at him. "Hey, I'm gonna go talk to somebody real quick. Don't move, alright?" He asked her as she nodded again.

Within a few moments, Darien found Andrew with a girl that looked strangely like Serena, only with an orange skirt and shoes. "Hey Cardi….Andrew, is it okay if I take your truck and take Serena home? I think she may be borderline drunk." Andrew looked at him for a moment and smiled and dug in his pocket for his keys and tossed them to Darien. "Be careful with her, she's my baby." He said as Darien gave her a confused look. "Serena?" He said as Andrew laughed and slapped him on the shoulder while holding his beer. "No, no, weirdo, the truck. But be careful with my little sis as well." He said as he gave him a half-assed salute. Darien smiled and nodded back as he walked off to go get Serena.

Darien found Serena in her seat, looking like she was about to fall asleep in her chair. Darien gently tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, it's time to go." He said as she simply nodded again as he gently took her by her arm and made her stand up to walk out the door. A couple of blocks down, Darien found Andrew's white Silverado pick-up and pulled out the keys from his own pocket. He hit the unlock button and opened the passenger side door for her. Darien looked down at Serena and she just stared blankly at him when he opened the door. Darien just shook his head and gently put one arm against her back and the other underneath her legs to pick her up. He did so with hardly any effort. He buckled her in, closed her door, and went around the truck to the driver's side. He started up the truck and started on their way home.

A few minutes later, they had arrived at Serena's home. Darien quickly went around to her side of the truck and found her asleep. He shook his head. 'She wasn't even trashed. I guess she's a lightweight. I'll have to watch her.' He thought as he reached over to unbuckle her. He easily picked her up from out of her seat and put her in his arms once again. He closed the truck door and locked it. He continued to carry her to the door and tried all the keys on Andrew's keychain until he finally found the house key and got in. He kicked the door gently behind him and it closed on its own and he locked it.

Darien walked past the living room and into the hallway where the rooms where. 'Okay, that's mine, that's Cardigan's, that's their mother's room…..ah, here's hers.' He thought as he walked to her door and, with some difficulty, opened her door and walked in. He, again, kicked the door closed gently. He didn't lock it though. He wasn't intending on staying.

Darien gently laid her horizontally across the bed. He bent down and started to gently remove her shoes. About this time, Serena had woken up, the alcohol had fully kicked in for the most part. She knew where she was, even with the lights turned off. She felt something messing with her feet and she sat up and looked down to see Darien taking off her shoes. Darien looked up at her. "Finally awake I see." He said with a smile as he took off her last shoe. He stood up and looked down at her. "Well, seeing as how you're awake now, I think you can take car of the rest by yourself. Goodnight, Serena." He said as he smiled at her once more before turning around and leaving.

'She's really a nice girl. I might actually ask her out somewhere, one day maybe.' He thought as his hand was suddenly being tugged back and he turned around to see she had it. "Can't you take….take care….of the rest?" She asked, almost completely nonchalantly. Darien was stunned. "What?! Serena we don't know each other that well yet and I don't think you…" She cut him off as she got up off the bed. "What's there to know? I'm female, you're male…." She said as she reached out and pulled on his shirt and pulled him to her. "I'm pretty sure you can figure it out." She said rather seductively in his ear as she gently licked his earlobe. He shivered slightly "Ah! Serena! For my sake and yours, you have to sto…." She cut him off again, but this time, with her lips. Serena had closed her eyes and had both hands clinging to his shirt. Darien was shocked by her bold drunkenness. His eyes were still open and his hands weren't touching her.

Normally, if it were anyone else, he would've pushed her off, but for some reason, he didn't have the strength to do so. His eyes closed and he sank into her kiss. His arms went around her and hers came around his waist. He didn't even fully realize what he was doing until he had her underneath him on her bed, still clothed and she was taking off his shirt, still kissing him. He knew both Andrew and their mother would kill him if they found them like they were now and with his shirt completely off now, he knew he wouldn't have any valid excuse if they walked in, but a part of him didn't care.

'Well, she hasn't told me to stop so I guess it's okay.' He thought. Now he knew those beers were catching up to him. He wasn't near the level that Serena was, but he knew if he went through with this, he would be the only one who remembered. Half of him felt bad, but half of him wanted it, bad. He finally let himself go and just go with it. If it happened, it just happened, he couldn't fault anyone for that if she said no, but she wasn't complaining as she ran her hands up and down his muscled body. It felt so good to finally have a woman touch him like that in so long, kiss him like Serena was, rubbing up against his hips like she was. He couldn't help but moan as she grinded her hips against his. He brought his hand up and ran his fingers through her hair as he continued to kiss her. She eventually deepened the kiss by licking his bottom lip and asking for entry or his. Darien complied and deepened the kiss.

Darien felt her hands moving up and down his back, teasing him further. Darien smirked through the kiss and decided to tease back. He moved his other free hand and moved it downwards. He was gently touching the side of her knee on the outside of her leg. He gently but slowly ran his hand up her leg, up her thigh, and underneath her skirt. Darien felt her shiver and smiled and he moved down from her lips to her neck and continued kissing her there. He heard her gasp and say something inaudible. Darien smiled against her neck. 'I think I've still got it.' He thought proudly as he moved down. "AAAHHHH STOP! GET AWAY! DON'T TOUCH ME! I SAID NO!" He heard Serena suddenly scream. "What? I didn't hear you…." She cut him off as she threw him off of her and ran into her bathroom, slammed the door, and locked it. He could hear her sobbing on the inside.

Darien laid on the bed, wide-eyed, scared, confused, half-naked and horny. He pushed the last feelings aside as he quickly went to the door and knocked on it gently. "Serena, if I hurt you somehow, I'm sorry. Just tell me what I did! I don't know what….." He said as she cut him off by yelling through the door. "Just go away, please! Just leave me alone!" Darien stepped away from the door. Still confused and concerned for her. "Okay, I'm gonna leave now. But we're gonna talk about this in the morning." He said as she yelled at him again. "Just get the fuck out of here!" She yelled through a sob. Darien winced, not fully understanding what he did and not looking forward to what was unknown to come in the morning. He picked up his shirt and quickly and quietly exited her room, closing the door behind him.

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Kind of a cliffhanger but at least it was longer! So yes, please review and I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible. I'm also thinking about releasing a new story this month but we will see what the fiture holds!

~Mackenzie


	5. Unsure

So very sorry for the loooong awaited update, but I've been busy with work and college so it's a bit difficult to find time to do my stories and I have been going over so many scenarios and I have more stories forming in my head as well that I want to start working on too. I'm not finished with this one though, not even close!

Darien poked his head carefully through the room he was staying in the next morning. He was half expecting Mrs. Cardigan waiting to beat the crap out of him with a frying pan in the hallway, or Serena in the hallway with the police, even though he had done nothing wrong last night. He couldn't sleep after her episode with him.

All he could think about, besides how she felt under his hands, was how did he manage to somehow hurt her? What had he done wrong? Sure, he hadn't known her long and he was a sexually deprived man, but he thought he was trying to take it as slow as possible. All sorts of thoughts ran through his head and kept him up until he started hearing footsteps through the house and doors closing and opening. He looked towards Serena's room. It was still closed.

He finally stepped out into the hallway with just his boxers and a shirt. He didn't have any lounge pants yet, so he knew he'd get at least a little rant from Mrs. Cardigan. Darien walked into the kitchen, hoping to find Serena alone so they could talk about the events of last night. He was a bit disappointed when he found Andrew sitting at the table. He was eating a waffle when he looked up at Darien.

"Hey bro, so how'd last night go? You guys set up a date soon?" He asked with a little smile, expecting one from Darien, but all he got was a downcast look when Darien sat down at the table. Darien shook his head. "Not where I was hoping it would go." He said as he sighed and leaned back in the chair a bit. Andrew smiled.

"Ah…little sis is playing hard to get, is she?" He said as Darien shook his head. "If what happened last night was playing hard to get, that's the most screwed up game of hard to get I've ever seen." He replied at Andrew gave him a strange look. "What do you mean?" He asked as Darien began to explain, but was cut off by a sudden rush of air with blonde hair trailing behind.

Serena quickly grabbed her things and acted like her brother and Darien weren't even there. "Good morning sis!" Andrew said cheerfully as Serena darted past the table without looking at either of them and went out the door. It slammed behind her and Darien winced. Andrew looked confused. "Well what the hell was that all about?" He asked as he turned back to Darien.

Andrew finally shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, she'll talk to me when she feels like it I guess." He said as he scarfed down the rest of the waffles and got up from the table. "See you later Shields. I'm gonna play a little Call of Duty in my room. Care to join?" He asked as Darien shook his head.

"Naw, you go on ahead. I'm gonna go check out some apartments. I'm pretty sure your mom wants me out of here as soon as possible." He said as he got up from the table and headed to his room to thrown on some clothes.

Serena finally got to the Starbucks close to her house. She picked one of the empty seats and plopped down with her bag. She leaned back, sighed, and closed her eyes. The smell of coffee invaded her senses as she lounged there. She suddenly felt another presence in front of her she opened her eyes in time to see another pair of blue ones in front of her own.

"So, how'd it go last night? Saw you went home alone with Darien." Mina said with a smile on her face. Serena shook her head. "I'm actually not sure what happened to be honest Mina. I remember him taking me him in Andy's truck and then I fell asleep and then…." She trailed off, trying to remember. Serena tried hard to remember and then, some images quickly flashed in her mind. She gasped. "I remember I made out with him on my bed and, I remember….he had his shirt off…..and then after that, I don't remember anything."

Mina gasped, just as surprised as Serena. "Do you think you had sex with him?" She asked as Serena thought and tried to remember. "I don't know. If I did, I put all my clothes back on for some reason and fell asleep in the bathroom and when I got up this morning, I looked in the mirror and saw mascara had been running down my face, so apparently I was crying at some point." She said, still trying to piece it all together. Mina's eyebrows came together. "Do you think Darien made you cry for some reason?" Serena shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. He's the only one that knows apparently, but I really don't know if I should ask him. What if he took advantage of me last night? I highly doubt Darien will admit it, just like HE didn't." Serena said bitterly as Mina sipped on her frappuchino. "Well, your brother and I got along ok. He asked me to dance last night and gave me his number!" She said excitedly as Serena looked up. "Oh, I thought you didn't like my brother? I thought you said he looked like a total player?" She said with a little smile as Mina blushed.

"Well….maybe people change." She said as Serena smirked. "Or maybe someone just hasn't had any in a while and just wants to jump the first guy who gives her some attention." She said and then laughed. Mina glared. "I'm not a slut, Serena. I only sleep with a select few." She said as Serena smiled. "So you're a picky slut?" Serena said as she laughed. Mina shot back

"Well, at least it's better than being a drunk slut and sleeping with the first guy that gets you alone in years." Mina laughed and Serena's smile faded. "That's seriously not funny Mina." Mina stopped laughing and went back to being serious. "You're right. But still, you gotta find out if you guys just messed around or what exactly happened. I mean, what if he accidently got you pregnant or gave you an STD or something?"

Serena sighed and put her head almost between her legs. She ran her hand through her hair. "This is almost as bad as what happened years ago. What if he freaks out on me or something? What if he says I came on to him or something? Oh lord, Mina. I don't know if I can handle the answer…." She said as Mina put her hands on Serena's shoulders and made her look up at her.

"Serena, how are you supposed to know what exactly happened if you don't go straight to the person who probably knows exactly what happened?" She said as Serena nodded. "I know, but this is going to be hard." Mina shook her head. "No it's not Serena. Just get him alone and ask him what happened last night! It's not that hard!" Serena nodded again. "You're right. I've gotta do it. It's the only way I'll know for sure what happened."

A few hours later back at the Cardigan home, Darien sat at the table, looking over some apartment prices and locations he had gotten from his trip out during the day. He was debating between a couple of them as the door quietly closed and he looked up to see Serena. She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him. He looked at her with a sudden intense look, like he wanted to say something to her, possibly ask her something.

She then sighed and quickly walked off to her room as Darien started to stand up to walk over and talk to her. She closed her door quickly and rather loudly. Inside, she sighed. 'What if he did take advantage of me? Or what if I hurt him somehow? He looked sort of pissed off with me. Oh God, what do I do?' She thought as she leaned back against her door.

Meanwhile, Darien stood outside of Serena's room, contemplating knocking on the door. He raised his hand to do so. He needed to sort out what happened last night. He hesitated and then let his hand fall to his side. 'What if she's afraid to talk to me? What if she's mad at me? What if she thinks I did something terrible to her last night? Maybe I should just let it blow over.' He thought as he walked away from her door.

The next few days were awkward for both Serena and Darien, wondering if they should speak to eachother at the dinner table, if they should stop one another in the hallway, if they should chase the other one as they went out the door. It was especially hard for Darien because he was soon moving out of the Cardigan home and into his own apartment, so he would be leaving unfinished business behind, and perhaps a romance, at the very least, a friendship.

At the end of the week, Andrew was helping load the last of Darien's furniture from a storage unit into Andrew's truck. After about an hour of loading all of Darien's possessions into the truck, they rode over to Darien's new apartment.

Andrew, of course, smiling the entire way. "At least you're getting away from my mother. I'm still stuck there with her and Serena. If you hadn't gotten a one bedroom, I would have moved in with ya and helped pay the rent." He said to Darien, hoping he would get the hint and maybe change it to a two bedroom. He looked over at Darien, who didn't say a word. Darien was just staring out the window, looking as if he was concentrating hard on something. Andrew frowned.

"What's wrong Sh…Darien. You look like you've got something on your mind. Military related?" He asked as Darien shrugged. "No, Andrew. It's….something else." He said as Andrew pried on. "Well, what it is? I am your battle buddy, you can tell me anything." He said as Darien thought sourly. 'Not when it deals with someone who's supposed to be your brother in arms family.' He thought as they finally reached his new apartment. Andrew sighed and shook his head. "Well, let's get to work." He said as he got out of the truck.

After most of Darien's stuff was placed inside his apartment, Darien sat down on one of his stools next to the bar. Andrew took a seat next to him. "Nice place bro. We need to throw a party here before we go back." He said with a smile as Darien smiled back slightly. Andrew frowned. "Ok Darien, what's wrong? I'm tired of looking at you all sad a mopey." Darien looked up and stared at Andrew, contemplating on what to say. "Come on, Shields! You know I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me! I'm going to annoy the shit out of you night and day until you tell me, now 'fess up!" He said throwing his hands in the air.

"Ok ok!" Darien said, slightly annoyed. Darien then, with careful words, started telling Andrew what had happened between him and Serena, telling him he didn't mean for it to go that far and would've tried to stop it if he could. Andrew sighed.

"Wow, bro. I'm sorry. I kinda do know why she may have flipped out on you though." He said, tensing up slightly. Darien looked surprised. "You don't want to kill me or kick my ass even though I almost touched your sister?" He asked as Andrew shook his head and smiled a little. "Darien, if I could change things in life, I would have had my little sister loose it to an honorable man, such as yourself, rather than the way she was forced to loose it." Darien's eyes got wide.

"Serena was….?" Andrew nodded. "Yeah, man. My sister got raped when she was younger. She had met this guy when she worked as a waitress at my place. She was 18 and she hadn't been with any guys yet. So they hit it off, start dating and whatnot. So I guess this guy was in a super abusive family and they had fucked him up so bad, he sort of had a crazy side no one really knew about." Darien nodded for Andrew to continue.

"So, for some reason, he thought it would be romantic to take her out to a field somewhere and try to convince her to give it up. She said she wasn't ready just yet, although he did act all romantic about it. After he figured out she wasn't going to give it up willingly, he beat her black and blue and made her give it to him, forcefully." Andrew's fists balled up at the memory and his body shook a little.

"Serena had the cops call me instead of our mother. She wouldn't have taken it half as well as I did. I still want to beat the fuck out of the guy who did it, but only Serena knows who he is. I never got to the meet the guy because I had been in Basic and she had never introduced him to mom." Andrew ran a hand through his hair.

"I still hear Serena screaming in her sleep every now and then. She still has recurring nightmares about him, visions that come back." Darien frowned. "What happened to the bastard?" He said with a little disgust in his voice. Andrew smiled slightly at this. "As far as we know he's still locked away somewhere far from here. Good riddance, I say." Darien nodded.

"So that's why she's been acting weird towards me. She must've thought I took advantage of her." He said, sadly. Andrew piped up then. "I could talk to her for you Darien! Get everything straightened out! You'll be back on track with her in no….." Darien interrupt Andrew quickly. "No, Andrew. I've got to do this myself." He said, thinking of what to do and how to do it.

The next day at Serena's college, Mina and Serena walked out, laughing and talking together. Serena stopped when she saw Andrew's truck and Darien leaning against it, parked beside the sidewalk. He walked up to Serena and Mina, with a serious look on his face. Mina nudged Serena. "Now's your chance to see what happened, Serena. Go for it!" She said as Serena slightly shook her head.

"I can't…." She said as Mina pushed her forward a little. "Just do it Serena!" She said as Serena reluctantly walked up to Darien, clutching her books and her laptop against her chest. She looked up at him as he looked down at her from his towering form. "Can we talk Serena, please?" He asked simply as Serena nodded, holding on to her things, fearing what was to come.

Alright, another chapter done. I will try and not make the wait super long for the next one guys.

Thanks to all my fans and readers,

~Mackenzie


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